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Can We Succeed in Afghanistan?

Abdul4 Wrote: Aug 21, 2009 3:17 PM

How is it possible to analyze the situation in Afghanistan without even once mentioning the belief system of Islam which holds sway over the minds of the vast majority of Afghanis, and not only the Taliban? Even the non-Taliban Afghanis want Sharia law which denies equality for non-Moslems and for women, and a whole lot more. Do all of the learned analysts think that the religion/ideology which the Afghanis hold dear does not influence their behavior? Shouldn't our policies take that into account?

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Can We Succeed in Afghanistan?

He was certainly brave, but was he crazy? That's what I wondered when I picked up Rory Stewart's "The Places in Between," an account of the Scotsman's 2002 solo walk across Afghanistan. That's right, he walked. Many Afghans doubted he would survive the journey. Just weeks after the fall of the Taliban, in the dead of winter, in some of the most remote and difficult terrain in the inhabited world, he went from village to village on foot. Relying on the tradition of hospitality, Stewart found welcome, sustenance, and shelter (mostly, but not always) graciously offered by people who had very...

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